The present invention disclosed herein relates to an electric shock protection contactor and a portable electronic device including the same, and more particularly, to an electric shock protection contactor capable of protecting a user from a leakage current from a power source and a portable electronic device including the same.
In line with miniaturization and multifunctional operation of recent portable electronic devices, various components and elements are densely arranged in the portable electronic devices. Thus, in order to reduce impact from the outside as well as electromagnetic waves penetrating into the portable electronic device or leaked from the portable electronic device, a conductive gasket is used between an external housing and a built-in circuit board of the portable electronic device.
Also, due to the multifunctional operation, the portable electronic device may include a plurality of antennas for each function, and at least a portion thereof, as a built-in antenna, may be disposed in the external housing of the portable electronic device. Thus, a conductive contactor for an electrical contact between the antenna disposed in the external housing and the built-in circuit board of the portable electronic device has been used.
Furthermore, with respect to the portable electronic device, the use of a metallic material housing tends to be increased recently in order to improve robustness and aesthetics.
As a result, an electrical path may be formed between the external housing and the built-in circuit board by the conductive gasket or the conductive contactor. In particular, since the metal housing and the circuit board form a loop, static electricity may flow into the built-in circuit board through the conductive gasket or the conductive contactor to break a circuit, such as an integrated circuit (IC), when the static electricity having a high voltage instantly flows through a conductor such as the metal housing having a large externally exposed area.
With respect to the portable electronic device, batteries are generally charged by using a charger. The charger rectifies external alternating current (AC) power into direct current (DC) power and then transforms the DC power into lower DC power suitable to the portable electronic device through a transformer. Herein, Y-CAPs composed of a capacitor are provided to both ends of the transformer in order to enhance electrical insulation of the transformer.
However, in a case in which the Y-CAP does not have regular features as in a non-genuine charger, the DC power may not be sufficiently blocked by the Y-CAP, furthermore, a leakage current may occur due to the AC power, and the leakage current may flow through the ground of the circuit.
Since the leakage current may be transferred to a conductor contactable with the human body, e.g., an external case of the portable electronic device, a user may experience a prickling discomfort and in a severe case, an electric shock accident may occur in which the user may suffer injury.
Thus, there is a need to provide a protective device for protecting the user from the leakage current to the conductive gasket or the conductive contactor connecting the metal housing and the circuit board.
Furthermore, in a case in which the metal housing is used as an antenna, since a signal may be attenuated when the conductive gasket or the conductive contactor has low capacitance, the radio frequency (RF) signal may not be smoothly transmitted. Thus, there is a need to obtain high capacitance.
Thus, in line with the use of the conductor such as the metal case, there is a need to develop a contactor having various functions for protecting the user or the circuit in the portable electronic device as well as a simple electrical contact.
However, since additional components and elements are required for implementing these various functions and accordingly, an additional space in the circuit board of the portable electronic device must be secured, this may adversely affect the miniaturization of the portable electronic device.